Ummu Ammaarah (RA) – The Lioness Of Uhud

UMMU  AMMARAH RA - THE LIONESS OF UHUD

Ummu Ammarah RA is one of those Ansar women who accepted Islam in the very beginning. She was among the group that pledged loyalty to Nabi SAW at Al-Aqabah. Al- Aqabah in Arabic means a narrow mountain road. In the early days of Islam, the new Muslims were ill-treated by the Quraish very badly. They would put all sorts of difficulties in the way of Tabligh. Therefore, Nabi SAW carried on his work quietly and secretly. People from Madinah Munawwarah who used to come to Makkah Mukarramah for Hajj usually accepted Islam secretly in a mountain road near Mina, so that the Quraish might not see them.

Ummu Ammarah RA was in the third such group from Madinah Munawwarah. She joined most of the battles that were fought after Hijrah (migration). She took an important part in Uhud, Hudaibiyah, Khaibar, Umratul Qadha, Hunain and Yamamah. In the battle of Uhud, she was forty-three years old. Her husband and two sons were also fighting in this battle. She took a leather bottle full of water and headed for Uhud to help the wounded and the thirsty. In the beginning, the Muslims were winning, but things changed in a moment and the enemies were in a winning position. She had reached Nabi SAW, when wave after wave of enemy troops rushed to attack and kill him. She protected Nabi SAW whenever anybody approached him. She had a cloth-belt round her waist, full of pieces of cloth, with which she cared for the wounded. She herself got about twelve wounds, one of which was very serious.

Ummu Sa'eed RA says: "I once saw a very deep cut on the shoulder of Ummu Ammarah RA. I asked her how she had got that. She said, 'I got it in Uhud. When people were running about in confusion, I saw Ibn Qumiah coming towards us and shouting, 'Where is Muhammad !. Let somebody tell me about his whereabouts. If he is saved today, I am no more.' I, Mus'ab bin Umair and some others stopped him. He gave me this deep cut on my shoulder. I also attacked him, but he escaped because of the double coat of armour that he was wearing."

After a year's treatment, the wound would not heal. In the meantime, Nabi SAW decided to go to Hamra-ul-Asad. Ummu Ammarah RA also got ready but she could not join as her wound had still not healed. When Nabi SAW returned from this battle, he at once went to visit Ummu Ammarah RA. He was very happy to find her better. She says: "We were greatly disadvantaged in Uhud. The enemies were on horseback, while we fought on foot. There would have been a fair fight if they too had been on foot. When somebody had came riding on his horse to attack me, I stopped his sword with my shield and when he turned about;

I attacked his horse from the back and cut its leg. This caused the horse as well as the rider to fall on the ground. As soon as this happened, Nabi SAW would shout to my son, who would run to my help and then we both finished the man in no time." Her son Abdullah bin Zaid RA says: "I had a wound on my left arm, which would not stop bleeding. Nabi SAW said to my mother, 'Put a bandage over it.' My mother took out a bandage from her belt and after bandaging my wound, said, 'Now, son! Go and fight again with the idolaters.' Nabi SAW was watching us. He said, 'O, Ummu Ammarah RA, who can have courage like yours?"

At that time, Nabi SAW prayed again and again for Ummu Ammarah RA and her family. Ummu Ammarah RA said, "I was standing with Nabi SAW when one of the enemies passed by in front of me. Nabi SAW said to me, 'UmmU Ammarah! He is the man who wounded your son.' I jumped at him and hit his leg. This caused him to fall down.

We then went forward and finished him. Nabi SAW smiled and said, 'Ummu Ammarah RA has taken revenge for her son,' When Nabi SAW was praying for us, I said to him, 'O, Nabi of Allah! Pray that I may join you in Jannat.' He made this prayer too. After this I cared very little for any difficulty that came to me in this life."

As has already been said, she also joined many other battles with the same keenness and courage. After the demised of Nabi SAW , she took part in the fierce battle of Yamamah, which was fought with the rebels. She lost one of her arms and received eleven other wounds in this battle. She was forty-three in Uhud and fifty-two in Yamamah. Her great courage in these battles at that age was really amazing.

Lessons Learned from the Life of Umm Ammarah R.A (THE PROPHET’S SHIELD AT UHUD).

Bismillaa hir rahmaan nir raheem

The typical Muslim woman, shrouded from the world, lives her life in obscurity in the service of her husband and children. Seeking no recognition and having no personality or ambitions beyond the pleasure of her family she lives and dies leaving no mark on the pages of history. She is of course oppressed, neglected and possibly abused. That's how the mainstream media of the western world degrade the role of Muslim women for many decades.

“But that is not true!” you cry out. These statements infuriate us, but a large number of people, Muslims and people of other faiths, believe these myths to be true. As the knowledge of the Deen receded through the years of colonialism, we lost touch with the real heroes and heroines of Islam and replaced them with worthless icons from the popular media. To destroy all stereotypes we need to study the life of just one of these amazing women: Umm Ammarah, Naseebah bint Ka’b al-Maziniyah al-Ansariyah.

As you sit in the comfort of your home and read about her life, you will weep. You will than filled with pride at her accomplishments and shame at your own inadequacy. You complain about your mountain of laundry and the house hold chores , while she climbed a mountain to defend the Messenger of Allah SAW.

Your struggle to give your children a Muslim identity, while her son defied Musaylamah the Liar even as he cut off piece after piece of his body and martyred him. The slightest insult from a friend or acquaintance leaves us emotionally traumatized and useless for days. She received close to a dozen wounds in just one battle and, when fighting at the age of sixty, she lost her arm.

If, You could meet her, You would ask her just as the Messenger of Allah SAW had asked, “From where can anyone get courage like you, O Umm Ammarah?”

Maybe she would take your hand in her worn and wounded hand and give you some advice. Maybe she would give you some insight to her extraordinary valor, determination and, most importantly, her unwavering iman that guided her through all her struggles. Maybe she would say…

Love Allah and His Messenger SAW.

In my research I could not find a direct quote recorded from Umm Ammarah RA. So with any kind of writing, memoirs with regards to the toils of blood,sweat and tears of Ummu Ammarah RA just like the other among the Ummu Mukminin that we are very much familiar with.

Now we know about Ummu Ammarah RA , the lady warrior of Uhud and many other battle. The manifestation by action on her love for Allah SWT and His Messenger SAW. But some people speak so clearly with their actions that words become unnecessary. Especially in this world that we live in today where knowledge is abundant but actions are scarce, she truly fulfilled the ayat of the Quran,

Say, “Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.” (Al-Anam 6:162)

Her life is a testimony to her deep love for Allah and His Messenger sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam and this is the most important lesson we can learn from her.

The location where the Aqaba Pledge took place and the Aqaba Mosque and Ummu Ammarah RA is one of the two female Ansari. 

The first time the spotlight of history falls on her she is part of a delegation that has come from Madinah to secretly meet with the Prophet SAW. It is the 13th year of Hijrah and a group of over seventy men and two women is making its way to Aqabah. One of those women is Umm Ammarah RA. She chose to travel with her husband on this crucial mission and did not linger behind. The women swore allegiance when the men swore allegiance. The Prophet SAW did not admonish them for accompanying the men. In fact the oath of loyalty was the same for the men and the women except that out of respect the Prophet SAW did not hold their hand. He touched their hearts and they dedicated their lives for the service of the Deen.

She could have stayed at home and waited for her husband to inform her about the Messenger SAW, but Umm Ammarah was not of those who stay behind.

Seize the moment when Allah SWT gives it to you.

A few years pass in which significant events of Islamic history unfold: the Prophet SAW migrates to Madinah, the Islamic state is established, the battle of Badr takes place and then comes the battle of Uhud and the turning point in the life of Umm Ammarah RA and her whole family. Allah SWT gives her an opportunity and she seizes it. Initially the Muslims are winning, but the tide turns when the archers that the Prophet SAW had placed strategically on the hill of Uhud with instructions not to move under any circumstance, suddenly abandon their posts. This gives an opportunity for the enemy to attack from the rear. The Muslim army is suddenly surrounded and chaos ensues.

Umm Ammarah RA, who had joined the army to serve water to the soldiers, suddenly sees the Prophet SAW under attack with only a few of the Sahabah by his side. Her immediate response is to grab a sword and a shield or a bow (both are mentioned) and rush to his defense. She does not think, “Oh I am a woman, how can I protect the Messenger SAW? What use can I be to him?” Before the container of water hits the ground and spills its contents, Umm Ammarah’s RA name has been splashed across the pages of history and written in the scrolls of the righteous in the heavens. Umar RA would mention later that the Prophet SAW had said to him, “Whenever I turned left or right on the day of the Battle of Uhud, I always saw her (Umm ‘Ammarah RA) fighting in my defense.”

Do everything as a family.

Just as at the time of the Second Pledge of Aqabah, the family of Umm Ammara RA is together on the day of Uhud. Umm Ammarah’s two sons, Habib and Abdullah and her husband rush to where the small group of Sahabah stand to defend the Messenger of Allah SAW. Abdullah and Umm Ammarah are both wounded in the fighting. When her son is injured and blood gushes out from his shoulder, she ties up his wound and tells him to keep fighting and when she is injured, the Prophet SAW calls out to Abdullah RA to help his mother. Despite their injuries neither of them abandoned the defense of the Prophet SAW, and keep fending off the onslaught of the disbelievers.

The Prophet SAW is amazed by the courage displayed by this valiant family and sensing his pleasure, she makes a request. In the uproar of the battle, as the swords clash and the arrows fly overhead and men scream in agony and fall to their death this remarkable woman, wounded but determined, asks, “O’ Messenger of Allah, invoke Allah to make us your Companions in Paradise!”

The Messenger Rasulullah SAW replies, “O’ Allah, make them my Companions in Paradise.”

A guarantee of Paradise in the company of the Messenger Rasulullah SAW for the whole family! She could have asked merely for her own salvation but even at that point she is not selfish and includes her family in her prayer.

In our zeal for acquiring the knowledge of the Deen we sometimes become negligent of our families. It is important to pass on the knowledge to them as well and to include them in every beneficial activity that we participate in. Allah SWT commanded us,

“O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded.” (At-Tahrim 66:6)

She earned for her family Paradise. We can at least save ours from the fire, if Allah wills. Remain a grateful servant of Allah.

The Prophet SAW stood for so long in prayer at night that his feet were swollen and cracked. When asked by Ai'sha RA why he endured so much hardship when Allah SWT had forgiven all his later and previous sins, he replied, “Should I not prove myself to be a thankful servant?”

The Sahaba and the sahabiyat also acquired this characteristic of Shukr (gratitude). The family of Umm Ammarah RA did not cease to strive in the way of Allah SWT after receiving the guarantee of Paradise.

Ibn Hajar said: “She (Umm ‘Ammarah) witnessed the pledge of Aqabah and she also pledged allegiance. She participated in the battles of Uhud, Hudaybiyah and Khaybar and participated in ‘Umrat al Qada. She also witnessed the conquest of Makkah and participated in the campaigns of Hunayn and Yamamah.”

Both her sons were martyred: Abdullah in the battle of Hurrat and Habib at the hands of Mussaylamah the Liar. He tortured him to death, cutting off piece after piece of his body because every time he was asked, “Do you believe I am the Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “I can’t hear.”

When the Muslim army set out at the time of Saidina Abu Bakr RA to fight Musaylamah, Umm Ammarah RA at the ripe old age of sixty requested the Khalifah and joined them. She lost her arm in the battle but had the satisfaction of seeing the dead body of the man who defied the Messenger of Allah SAW and tortured her son.

Would any of us strive so hard and sacrifice so much, after receiving the promise of Paradise?
Umm Ammarah RA, may Allah be pleased with her, was a woman of exemplary courage and her life carries so many lessons for us. I have shared a few that I learned to know of.

Please share what part of her story touched you the most and how do you thin